Stunning photo by @thecrazyreader
Hey fairies!
It’s the fifth and final day of our readalong of This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede. I am so nervous to know how this ends!
Grab a snack and let’s dive in and see what this last section will bring!
Today we’re reading from Chapter 43 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede, from chapter 43 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished This Vicious Grace!
-!SPOILERS!-
How brutal is it that Alessa now has to stand before a crowd to declare after Divorando Dante will be given a trial? I can’t imagine how she must be feeling right now!
She’s doing what Renata suggested though, using the people’s belief in her to do good. She urges the people to protect everyone, the Marked, the poor, everyone. One man steps forward, and offers his home for protection, and that’s all it takes for everyone else to follow. Dante would be proud.
Seeing people step forward to offer their homes, risk their lives and more to save Saverio is heartwarming. Including Josef, whether Nina likes it or not he says he’s here to help. Just in time for Alessa to tell them of her revelation… She’s supposed to have more than one Fonte.
We have a week left until Divorando, Alessa is going to see Dante. Kaleb is going with her, with the argument that she’s less likely to be accused of treason if she’s not alone.
Alessa promises she’ll never let anything like this happen to Dante again. He kisses her forehead and tells her not to make promises she can’t keep. I’m big sad. I just want Dante out and Alessa and him to have a happy ending. Without Scarabeo and Papa Ivini and whatever else is in their way.
Oh great, Adrick is here. Well… I really thought I couldn’t dislike Adrick any more… It was him that told Ivini that Dante is a ghiotte.
He’s here to try to get Alessa to forgive him, but also to tell him Altari’s Finestra is dead, so now she has not only Saverio relying on her, but Altari too. I’m glad that this time, Adrick is telling Alessa what’s going on, but I’m still very bitter that Alessa has no choice in this.
Two days, fairies, TWO DAYS until Divorando and Alessa is not doing well. Kaleb argues they should let him switch places with Dante. Alessa somehow has plans to cash in her favour from Adrick. I don’t know if I’d trust him…
When they reach the crypt, Ivini is there with his minions. They’ve been throwing stones at Dante through the bars.
Then, Nina arrives. Perfect. Just what we needed!
After some bickering between Nina and Josef, the lanterns go out. They’re in the dark, literally. Hold on… they’re up to something. Suddenly Kamaria is traipsing over, cap obscuring her face to hand Alessa a lantern.
They did it! They’ve switched out Dante and Kaleb. I’m so on edge!
NOW her parents want a reunion! What timing! Adrick comes over to shoo them away, knowing it’s a very injured Dante that Alessa is currently propping up. (I can’t decide yet if I have forgiven him.) Her mother hands over a pile of letters. Has she been writing to her this entire time?
Alessa begs them for help, and they finally answer her prayers. Her family are with her once more, not ignoring her, not pretending they don’t have a daughter, but helping her.
When they get Dante upstairs, Nina is there. Her arguing with Josef was an act! Nina has seen sense, and wants to fight alongside the other Fontes and her Finestra.
Alessa cares for Dante, wiping his cuts, feeding him broth. Josef is ready and waiting to help Alessa haul Dante out of the water. When Josef calls her Finestra, Alessa asks him again to use her name. He goes for a formal “Miss Paladino” but for now I think it’ll do!
Alessa wakes the next day with Dante by her side. He’s healed, and when he goes for a shower Alessa reads the first letter from her mother.
The Fonte’s join Alessa to see how Dante is healing, and Adrick arrives too. He’s shook by Dante appearing from the bathroom, biceps flexing, the embodiment of health. Oh, Adrick. Aren’t we all?
Divorando is here. We’ve been counting down during the entire book and my, oh my, I am not ready!
Ah… Well… this is definitely a bad start to Divorando. Ivini is here and he’s not alone, he has Kaleb in tow.
Alessa isn’t cowering away this time. She stands her ground and tells the people that Dante is still a man, a man who came to fight for Saverio. One by one, soldiers take a knee. My hopes of them actually getting through Divorando have just multiplied quite a bit!
The fight is hard, and they know they can’t keep it up forever. Dante is blood soaked, Kaleb is wheezing, Nina is crying out in pain. I am scared. The boat is here though, with the Fonte and gifted people from Altari, including Saida and Shomari, Kamari’s brother. Well, they certainly need all the help they can get.
Alessa shouts at the soldiers to protect Dante and keep the Scarabeo away until he’s healed, but they’re losing.
She calls for a regroup, using the Scarabeo’s power to contact the Fontes, but then she’s hit. Dante and Alessa both lie on the ground. She can feel herself slipping away but urges herself to hold on until Dante can crawl to her. When he reaches her, his first word is “Gabriele”. His name. He told Alessa his name.
Nope. I’m crying again. All his life Dante has been told he is inherently evil. A ghiotte, good for nothing. He’s so selfless though. In his last moments, he gives his gift to Alessa.
She tries to fight him off but he holds her, steadfast until the life has drained from him. Does this mean the Finestra is a ghiotte now? Ignore me, that doesn’t matter right now! The power he gave her, she can magnify and she uses it to send healing and self-protection through her army. His gift, that he thought for so long was a curse, saved everyone.
Everyone around her is still fighting, she knows she needs to get up. She soldiers on (literally) until the sky clears and sound returns. She’s done it!
Not only that, she stands before everyone and tells them that Gabriele Dante Lucente, the ghiotte, is the one that saved them. Her Fonte’s come to her, support her, even Kaleb’s hand rises above the crowd from a stretcher.
When they have him home, on an altar, Alessa holds Dante’s hand, closes his eyes, and then pours Dante’s power back into him.
Dante wakes… but he’s unsettled from the dream – vision? – he had while he was gone. He tells her that her power is connected to the end, the fight isn’t over. The doctors tell Alessa he’s stable… but he’s not healing. Has his power not returned? Was it only enough to wake him?
He begs Alessa to take her gloves off, and when he touches her bare hands his muscles seize and he bites his lip. Once he’s alone, Dante thinks about how he knows he’s not healing any quicker than a normal person.
A whole month later, Kaleb and Dante help each other to stand. Dante will barely look at Alessa. She knows her feelings haven’t changed but his pride is wounded. He’s haunted by things he will not share. Alessa’s thoughts confirm that the last shred of Dante’s power was enough to bring him back, but it wasn’t enough for his power to be revived.
I’m so scared at what this might mean for the couple. Will Alessa ever be able to touch him again?
At least Kaleb can sneak a smile out of Dante, feigning fainting and telling the nurse the ghiotte is trying to murder him. I never thought I’d say it… but I like Kaleb?
Dante tells Alessa he doesn’t think his dreams are dreams, he thinks it’s Dea or his mother telling him he’s not finished. Dante thinks his mother wants him to find La Fonti di Guarigione. Alessa promises to find it and heal him but that’s not what he’s saying, he thinks they need to find it so when Crollo comes, they have the healing water for the troops.
Dante thinks the fountain isn’t a thing, but a who. The ghiotte. More than one. An army, long banished. And they need to find them.
What. An. Ending. I need book two like… yesterday?
What did you think, fairies? Let me know all your thoughts, feelings and theories!
I hope you loved This Vicious Grace and enjoyed the readalong, as always thank you for joining us!
See you very soon for our next readalong!
Love,
Shannon
Aahhh!! I really loved this book! Super excited for the sequel and I’m hoping Fairyloot makes a matching copy.
I’m glad that Alessa’s family apologized, but I feel like it’s a bit soon to forgive them. Hopefully the sequel will show them working to be better and earning her forgiveness.
Surprisingly Kaleb ended up being my favorite side character. I didn’t think it was possible at first, but he grew on me pretty quickly. Definitely a character I’m hoping to see more of in the next book.
And Alessa and Dante!! Aaa!! I love them. Very happy that it was his power that saved everyone in the end and I’m curious to see more of the ghiotte.
I really enjoyed this readalong, which was my very first one, so I’m very excited for the next one!
OMG! I loved this book so much and Dante sacrificing himself for Alessa broke my soul into tiny pieces! I was really destroyed until she brought him back! But that battle was absolutely epic! I loved how Alessa worked with all the Fontes and didn’t just choose one. That it was a group effort….but that it was love that ultimately saved them all (her and Dante’s love).
I really adored the found family in this story! I liked all the fontes and ended up really liking Kamaria and Kaleb a lot! Even Nina redeemed herself in my eyes! I can’t WAIT for the sequel!
Dante has my heart and I just adore him so much. I hope they find that ghiotte army and can save everybody from what is coming next!
This really was such an exciting novel and I am so glad I read it! 🙂
Honestly, my jaw is still on the floor. This book was amazing!!! And as you say we need a second book like yesterday ?.
I’m really interested to see what happens in Alessa and Dante’s future with him no longer having powers. I honestly shed tears when Dante finally told her his real name and gave her his gift.
Kaleb getting Dante through healing gave me a real chuckle. This was a character I hated to begin with but now love. I want to see more of this bromance ?.
Honestly can’t wait for the second book ?
I finished reading this earlier today, and had to take a few hours to compile my thoughts into something *kind of* cohesive!
I think this was a great ending, and really makes me want book two ASAP. It provides the right amount of closure with A LOT of questions for what is going to happen next.
I was so happy to see everyone working together – I feel like stories that focus on community really resonate with me, especially after the past few years of living through the global pandemic. My eyes have really been opened, in various ways, about the importance of community and having people to rely on when you’re facing something so monumental. I think a lot of fantasy books focus on one person saving the day, which is great to read about, but I also love that this focused on a group working together, and really highlighted that group effort, too.
OMG, when Dante told Alessa his first name, my brain started shouting “NO!” because I knew what he was going to do. I think this grumpy man has officially become our Grumpy Bear, and we will all be rooting for him in the next book. (I’m not sure if Grumpy Bear is the right title to give him…. suggestions?)
Most shockingly, I think Kaleb has grown on me throughout the book, but only because of the relationship he seems to have with Dante.
I can’t wait for book two and to see how everyone reacts to this group of persecuted people being the answer to a really big problem!
Now THIS is an ending I can get behind! One of my pet peeves is stories that are split into multiple books with a “cliffhanger” ending, but really it’s just one story split into pieces. UGH. But THIS was a complete story in itself. With a nice setup for the next story. And I CAN’T WAIT to read about Alessa and Dante and everyone’s next adventure.
This is one of my top reads of 2022 so far.
Though I’m disappointed we don’t know what happened to Ivini. I still hope a scarabeo ate him.
The battle was tough! But I loved how everyone came together, the mental image of all the fonti grasping Alessa is straight out of a renaissance painting.
But Dante losing part of his identity?! Is he going to get it back? Or is he as human as anyone else forever? And all the progress they made with touch. I’m not sure I can take the longing in the next book. (I lied, I can, I love the you can’t touch me trope).
I do have to say though… The series being called The Last Finestra… What could it possibly mean in the grand scheme of the series. I mean we just won and surely Alessa isn’t the last Finestra, right?!
Whyyyyy did he have to lose his powers ? just when they were pulling through on the other side of Divorando too! But I’m glad this sets up such an interesting premise for book two! A five star read overall!!
Aghhhh!! I stayed up till 2am last night (this morning), because I simply couldn’t put this book down! I was only going to finish up to readalong Day 4…but I have no self control when the tale is moving at such an amazing pace!
I was so mistrusting of Adrick and her own parents…but I think part of the theme I keep seeing here is that people can change. They can change from their mistakes. They can change and grow from where they once where….and I like that. I love that Kaleb and Dante have this bromace brewing. I love that her parents protected her when they saw she needed help. I love that Adrick was truly sorry. I loved that Nina was so tricky! I love how Renato and Tomo love her so much. I love how the Captain and the army kneeled down, willing to fight with her, even when that creep Ivini thought he was winning by bringing Kaleb and revealing Dante. And I love Alessa’s growth.
I do wonder about Dante – if his powers are gone, can he ever be with Alessa again? Their moments together are swoonworthy! And he is obviously traumatized by his visions (of which, as he spoke of them, I’m like YESSSS A BOOK TWO!!! and NOOOO BUT THIS WAS JUST PUBLISHED AND NOW I HAVE TO WAIT A YEAR OR MORE UNTIL THE NEXT ONE and OOOO MAYBE FAIRYLOOT WILL HAVE A SPECIAL SECOND BOOK I CAN GET TO ADD TO THIS BECAUSE I KNOW I WILL WANT IT ALREADY! I’m crying and giddy all at the same time!), and though being a ghiotte made him feel less than worthy before, now that his powers seem to be gone, he must feel some sort of emptiness as well.
I hope Book 2 isn’t full of him being moody and sad. I understand that it could come. I just hope it doesn’t last too long. But that’s because I’m selfish and want everything to turn out just right in the end, whenever this saga ends.
I love that there is no love triangle! I am not a fan of triangles, and would rather see two souls who stand by each other and fight the good fight together (against scarabeos, or Crollo, or anything else that may come their way).
I LOVE when friends come together, and the Fontis all joining in give her strength to battle, as a team and family that they have come just gives me all the feels!
Someone please tell me – where did Ivini go? Did he battle? Did he die? Did he make it? I don’t know if I missed it, but I didn’t hear about him again after he was stuck in the battle with everyone. I hope he was eaten by a giant, flying, shiny beetle, but maybe he’s still lurking around…ready to pounce and show up again in Book 2. If there’s no body, he could still be around, and that spins all sorts of ideas in my head of what this creep could be up to, or who he could be!
I thought this book was fantastic! The ending shocked me a little, I’m really curious to see how Alessa and Dante are going to deal with this new situation in the next book. It was giving me shatter me series vibes, where Adam and Juliette were having similar problems…. Curious to see where it goes! But overall this book was fantastic!
I went into this book blind and without high expectations but it’s probably my favourite YA fantasy in I’m not even sure how long. I loved that the solution to the Fonte problem was a Fonte team. I loved the romance. Interested to see what happens in book two.
I didnt go into the book with high expectations and found the first 50 pages a bit rough but wow I ended up loving it and immediatly recommended it to friends. The world is original. The romance swoon worthy and the cliffhanger left me wanting for more. No news about the release date for part 2 yet but I cant wait.
I can’t believe the author put us through all of that, but am liking how book 1 wrapped up well. I do need to get book 2 ASAP though.
I hope Ivini died in the battle. I can’t stand that man.
So happy Dante isn’t actually dead but I am terrified that means Alessa won’t ever be able to touch him. Unless when they end everything for good, she is normal again?! Then she could also hug friends and family. I would love that for her.
Finished this one last night and absolutely loved it! I love the found family that happened, Alessa and Dante’s relationship, the world, just everything! Im giving it a 4.5 stars
What an ending! When Dante died I cried because it was so sad and cruel and full of love. I also love how all the fontes backed each other up and how they all conspired for Kaleb to switch places with Dante in the prison.
I was a bit sceptical about Alessa’s parents and her brother but I think we will learn more about them in the sequel!
OMG a sequel! I’m so happy!! But I also can’t wait! Hopefully we don’t have to wait too long for it!
I loved how in the end the chiottes are the only salvation against what will come. That part gave a really good start for a second book. While still giving this book a satisfying ending.
I was so glad that Dante didn’t die in the end but was saved. His message was intriguing and I think there is a little more behind his saving. He seems human though, does this mean he can’t touch Alessa anymore? I hope not!
At first Kaleb annoyed me, then he grew on me and finally I love him. He changed so much and I absolutely love his banter especially his banter with Dante! It truly was a great ending for this book.
Also…. I think padre Ivini was picked up by a giant scarabeo and flewn to the scarabeos evil headquarters. Because where else would he be? I also think this was not the last we heard from Ivini unfortunately.
I loved this book! It also happened to be my first fairyloot book ever and it was amazing! I gave this book 5 stars and I can’t wait for the sequel and more of Alessa, Dante, Kaleb and the other fontes. I loved the found family trope a lot! Their friendship and alliance towards each other in the last part of the book was great and made me root for each and every one of them.
Thanks for the great readalong, it was really nice checking in after reading certain chapters and then reading everything here!
Finished the book a little late but I absolutely loved it. I think it became one of my favorite reads of 2022. I love the relationship between the characters and world building.
This book!!! What a gem ?!!!
I loved it so much ????
The journey Alessa and Dante made is so amazing. And. That. Ending. Want to read the sequel now and in a Fairylooot book edition please ?